Contact Lens Care

Caring for today’s contact lenses is easier than ever. Furthermore, patients need to be diligent to keep the lenses clean and prevent problems such as a buildup of protein on the lenses. This is the basic cleaning regimen:

Wash your hands so you don’t transfer dirt and germs to your eyes. Dry your hands with a lint-free towel.

Remove one lens and clean it with a cleaning solution. Place the lens in the palm of your hand with a few drops of cleaning solution, and rub the lens gently with your fingertip. This removes protein buildup and other debris that may have gotten on the lens.

Rinse the lens again to remove the loosened debris. Follow the rinse duration recommended with the cleaning solution.

Place the lens in a clean lens case and fill with fresh cleaning solution. Don’t keep old solution. Replace it with new every time you take the lenses out.

Repeat the process with your other lens.

Patients should store contact lenses in the recommended solution. Every time a patient stores their lenses, we require them to place the lenses in fresh solution. We recommend not reusing the solution as it can harbor bacteria and debris. Patients should rinse their contact lens case with the solution after use and leave the caps off to store the case. You should replace your contact lens case once every three months, or sooner if build-up has begun to form.

How Long Does a Contact Lens Fitting Take?

At the Eye & Lasik Center, we combine your regular eye exam along with your contact lens exam if you are already a lens wearer. While this may seem redundant, once we test your visual acuity and the other tests to determine your eye health and whether or not you need to correct refractive errors, we then move on to contact specific tests. These include measuring your cornea to measure the curvature, measuring the pupil and iris, evaluating your tear film, among others. If you are a new fit or refit, you must return on another day for the contact lens portion of your exam.

An appointment usually takes around one hour.

How Many Hours per Day Can I Wear My Contact Lenses?

Patients may wear some extended wear contact lenses for 30 days, day and night. But in most cases, we still recommend that our patients put their contacts in every morning and remove them (and clean them) every night before bed. This lessens the chances of eye infection and other problems with long-term contact lens wear. Plus, it is good to give your eyes a break from wearing lenses. The optimal time for wearing contact lenses is a maximum of 10-12 hours per day.